Foxy was walking down the town's main street, when she spotted DJ pushing a large-screen television to the curb for garbage removal.
She went over to help, and ask what he planned on doing with it. "Does it work?"
"Sure does, Foxy. I'm just gettin' rid of it to make room for my awesome new speakers."
"So let me get this straight. You're throwing out a perfectly good television for your tunes?"
DJ nodded, and Foxy sighed. "Would you mind if I took it? You won't have to push it any farther."
"Sounds cool to me, dude. Have fun with it."
"Thanks, Deege!" She gave him a smile, then hoisted it onto her right shoulder.
Rather then have it slip out of her hands, she used her shoulder to balance it, her right hand to help, and her head to lean against it in case it tipped towards her left side. There was an added bonus to carrying it on her shoulder: she could see where her feet were.
Carrying it like this, she was able to move it fairly quickly towards Fillmore's. He was just about to exit when she brought the massive television to the doorway. He backed up to let her through, and she did so with a smile. "Thanks, Fillmore." She slid the tv off her shoulder and onto the carpet, standing up and rolling her shoulder to get rid of the stiffness.
"Where'd ya get it, man?"
"DJ was going to throw it out just because it wouldn't fit with the speakers he's putting up. He said that it works, but I've got another idea for it."
"What kinda idea?"
"You'll see. It's going to be a big surprise!" Foxy exclaimed excitedly. "I'll need to get some things though... and I don't think anybody here has what I need."
"Then we can go to the next town over, man. They've got tons of stuff."
"Like what?"
"If ya tell me what it is ya need, then I can go see if they have it."
"Oh, why don't we just go together?" She suggested, and he smiled.
"Right on, man!"
"Let's go let everyone else know, then we'll head out."
Fillmore nodded, and Foxy followed after him. "Hey. I got a great new idea for a project, and a new test subject, so me and Fillmore were gonna go see what they've got next town over."
The others nodded, chuckling. They all knew how Foxy loved to experiment with things to see what would happen.
More then once, she had nearly made herself sick drinking things that she had mixed up, including a few drops of motor oil in her coffee, beer in an non-fuel-made organic drink mixture left to ferment, and something she had whipped up using all three, to see if humans really could drink oil if it was diluted and masked by the taste of beer and fruit.
Nothing had worked, and Doc had forbade her from putting oil into anything she drank, or else he was going to throw her into the impound and not bring her coffee. She had hastily stopped, but still couldn't help wondering.
The group bade the two farewell, and Doc reminded her not to bring home anything that would overpower her and enslave the car race. She laughed, then told him she wouldn't.
They went back to Fillmore's, and she darted inside the custom-made trailer that her and Fillmore had decorated.
Inside was a large beanbag chair, an avocado-green shag rug, a skylight in the ceiling, a place to hang her hat, tail, old collar, and a few posters of her favorite bands on the walls. On the outside, it looked nearly identical to Fillmore's paint job, thanks to Ramone.
The two had thought up the idea because Lightning had said that his trailer was getting cramped. Fillmore hooked up to the trailer, and waited for her call that she was settled inside.
"We're good."
With that, he closed the ramp and they were off. "This is going to be fun, Fillmore. And, if I can get it to do what I want it to, you all should be able to use it."
"Really? That'll be pretty groovy. So why's it have to be a surprise, man?" He heard her laughter over the CB radio, then she replied, "Because Fillmore, if it doesn't cooperate with me, I can make something else and it'll still be a surprise. Then you guys will think that the surprise was what I made, not what I didn't make."
There was silence for a few minutes, then she sighed. "That was confusing, let me start over. If it doesn't go as planned, I can scrap my original idea, make something else, then pass off my second idea as the surprise."
Fillmore chuckled, then he told her that now he'd be suspicious.
"I shouldn'ta told ya that." She replied, and he laughed. "And I'm probably gonna need a keyboard or something too, since we're going to have to dial numbers..." She was making a checklist, not realizing that the CB was still on.
"Why are ya gonna haveta dial numbers?"
"I shouldn'ta told ya that either." She replied, and shut the CB radio off to continue her list. (Hagrid moment from Harry Potter! :D)
Fillmore chuckled, and continued driving. They made it there in a few hours, and Foxy scrambled out of the trailer, stretching her legs and getting her hat and tail. She joined Fillmore, and the two set off. She looked down at her list, then saw what she needed.
It was a good thing that she had a job, otherwise she wouldn't have the funds necessary for such an excursion. She came out of one store, the items in a bag so Fillmore couldn't see, and the two went onwards.
At the end of the day, Foxy looked over her list, and told Fillmore that she had everything she needed. The two headed back to Radiator Springs, and Foxy had to restrain herself from launching into a full-blown work mode.
Instead, she asked Sally if she could borrow a spare cone for a few days. Sally smiled, then told her that cone number three was open. Foxy accepted the keycard, something Sally had recently gotten for each cone. She toted all the items over to that cone, and then the television.
The others watched her with curiosity, and Fillmore told them that Foxy wanted it to be a surprise.
"Which can't mean anything good." Lightning replied with a chuckle.
That evening, Fillmore rolled over to cone number three with a cup of coffee, unsure if Foxy was even in the cone or not. He knocked with his free tire, and waited.
"Just a sec!" Foxy called, then threw a sheet over her creation-in-progress. She jogged to the door, and opened it. "Hi, Fillmore." She gave him a smile, which he returned.
"Thought you'd want a cup, man."
"I sure do. Thanks, Fillmore." She kissed his VW symbol gently, then stepped outside for some fresh evening air.
"So what are ya makin', anyhow?"
Foxy took a sip of her coffee, then wagged a finger at him. "I told you, it's a surprise. If I told you what it is, then it wouldn't be a surprise."
"I could pretend to be surprised."
Foxy laughed. "If I tried to pretend to be surprised with something, I'd forget, and actually be surprised. Maybe you should just be me for a day."
"So, does that mean you're gonna tell me?"
"No." She replied with a grin. "I've already said too much. Trust me, I just know that I'll let more things slip as the days go on."
"You comin' over?"
"I might. I want to get as much done as possible before I turn in, that way I can get more done tomorrow."
"'Night." Fillmore replied, nuzzling her gently.
"You going to bed already? I would've thought that you, of all cars, would be the one to stay awake and pester me to tell you what I'm making." She grinned good-naturedly, and Fillmore nudged her playfully.
"I know when to give up and when to keep fightin', man."
"All right. Good night, Fillmore." She smiled, and kissed his symbol again before the two parted ways.
Fillmore watched as the door to cone three rolled down, then he went inside his dome. He settled onto his mattress, and drifted to sleep.
Foxy, meanwhile, was busy with her project. She only paused long enough to put her hair up into a messy bun, grab another few sips of the coffee, then she was back to work, wiring things to microchips here, and connecting wires together, and wrapping a group of wires in electrical tape. She had the radio on low, since she found that she worked best with music. She had it tuned to the classic rock station on, and it was murmuring Journey's 'Any Way You Want It'. She hummed along with the song as she continued.
The next morning, she awoke to someone knocking on the door. She blinked her eyes open, and saw the mass of wires, all colors. "Cripes!" She exclaimed, then hurriedly threw a sheet over the project. "Hang on, I'll be right there!" She called to the pounding on the door. She turned off the radio, ran for the door, and hit the button hurriedly.
It rolled up, and she tried to slow down, but instead stumbled, flailing before she caught her balance again.
Doc rolled backwards in surprise at Foxy's entrance and bedraggled appearance. "Ya all right?"
"Fine. What's up?"
"We were gonna leave for the race soon. You comin'?"
She hesitated, looking over her shoulder at the sheet-covered lump. Doc followed her gaze, and took notice of the large television screen. "What are ya doin with all that stuff?"
"It's a surprise!" Foxy replied rapidly, and Doc chuckled.
"According to section 113-A, there are no surprises I don't know about, since I am the judge."
"When did we get that?!"
"Yesterday." Doc chuckled.
Foxy grumbled an answer, then sighed. "Fine. I was up late, so I don't feel like arguing."
"How late are we talkin' about?"
"Umm... three... in the morning?"
"Foxy! You oughta know better then that!"
"I'm sorry, I got caught up in it. I kept telling myself one more wire, one more wire, and 'one more wire' turned into twenty more, and so on..." She flopped down onto the couch, facefirst into a pillow.
"After I take a look at whatever it is you're makin', you're goin' over to Fillmore's for some sleep."
"Then that means that I can't..."
"Nope."
She sat up, and gave him the puppy-dog eyes. The effect was ruined completely when she yawned seconds later.
"Not gonna work."
"Please, Doc. I'll do anything! I'll... work free overtime, I'll train Lightning for a week, I'll go off coffee for two weeks!"
"You really wanna go. I've never heard you say you'd go off coffee for any length of time." He lifted the sheet up, glanced at what she had made progress on, and finding nothing really of interest other then a large tv set and about a million feet of wires, he let the sheet drop. He didn't turn around for a few minutes, letting Foxy silently beg.
When he turned around, she shrank back, expecting the worst. "You got farther then I expected."
"But you don't know what I'm making... do you?"
Doc shook his hood, then replied, "Normally cars are on the wiring process when they've figured out what they plan on makin', and have everything they need."
"Like I do."
"Good. And it looks like you're almost done. Now, about your punishment..."
Foxy's head lowered, as did her eyes, ready for the worst.
"I was considering letting you train Lightning, but then I realized that nothin' would get done. So... you can come, but during the race, and after, you're stayin' in the trailer."
"Does that mean I get to share some secrets of Lightning's with you when we get home?"
Doc chuckled. "No, you keep your paws off his stuff. He'll get mad at not only you, but me too. He'll think I put ya up to it."
"Oh, yeah. Thanks, Doc!" Foxy exclaimed around a yawn, then grinned widely.
Doc chuckled again, then nudged her. Go on, in your trailer."
"Yes, dad." She sighed, then got up from the couch, stretching. "Hold on a sec... Could I bring my surprise to work on?"
"No."
"Aww." She sighed, then walked across the street to her trailer, where she unlocked it. She went over to a low cupboard, and opened one of the doors. She pulled out one of Fillmore's blankets, then curled up in the bean bag chair, threw the blanket over herself, and began to doze.
When she next awoke, the trailer was moving. She yawned widely, then looked around sleepily. She fumbled for the CB radio, and pressed the button. "Where we goin', Fillmore?"
There was laughter on the other end, then Fillmore's reply. "Have a nice nap, man? Ya sound tired yet."
"Yeah, I slept like a rock." She replied with a soft noise of contentment as she stretched.
"We're goin' to Sonoma."
"Wow... That's on the other side of California, right?"
"Sure is."
"It's gonna take forever to get there!"
"Only two days."
"Two days there, one day for the race, then two days back. A whole week." She replied, flopping into the beanbag chair.
Fillmore chuckled, then replied that it was near a beach.
"It is?!"
"Yep."
"Awesome! Wake me when we get to there, 'kay?" She asked, and Fillmore chuckled.
"Sure."
"Thanks." She smiled, then turned the CB radio off and curled into the beanbag chair.
Here's the first part of When Worlds Collide! I know it starts out slow, but it happens in the course of a few days, so it will speed up as it nears the end. Hope you enjoy it!